Parents Will Donate Kidneys To Kids

U.S. & Latin America - What's Happening in . . . Patchogue, N.Y.

PATCHOGUE, N.Y. -- A Long Island, N.Y., couple who gave their two children the gift of life are going to be giving them something else -- new kidneys.

Keith Quatrale, 12, and his 9-year-old sister, Kristin, are in need of kidney transplants after being diagnosed with a rare genetic disease that results in life-threatening kidney failure.

Their mother, Janice, 39, is a close match for Keith. Their father, Paul, 40, is a match for Kristin.

"It's a relief to know the search ended with us," said Paul Quatrale, an instrument technician. "I don't know if it's special," Janice Quatrale said. "I'm just glad we can match, that we can do it for them."

Two years ago, Keith, a sixth-grader, started getting sick for no apparent reason. He was finally diagnosed with familial juvenile nephronophthisis.

In the spring, Kristin, who is in the fourth grade, came down with the same disease.

The Quatrale family knows of only one other case like it in the country.

"That was a numbing blow," said Paul Quatrale, describing his reaction when he found out that both of his children were ill. "That was a lot to digest. As it all sinks in, then you slowly rise above the emotional part of it."

Each night the children receive dialysis treatment while they sleep.

"I don't have any pain anymore," Kristin said. "I used to, but now I don't."

In the spring, Paul and Janice Quatrale told their son and daughter they were matches for the kidney transplants.

The transplants are tentatively planned for next year, when the kids get a little bigger.

"I don't know if they know the extent of it, but they're happy it's coming from us," Janice said.

Kristin summed up her feelings and her brother's.

"It feels great that I can get a kidney and get off the machine," she said.